IL Trophy Hunter

A couple yrs ago when I revived an old plot, I went to the feed store too buy some ladino clover. After I told them at the counter about the clover I then mentioned what I needed as far as an innoculant. There were several people behind the counter and they all acted like I was crazy. They said you don' t need to innoculate clover. I know from reading all over the internet along with this site that innoculants are very important, I was just wondering how important. I ended up seeding those plots with out the innoculant and they have done fine. Also I seeded some Birdsfoot Trefoil last year and it seems to be doing well and no innoculant was added there either. I guess my question is even though these plots seem to be doing fine, would they be doing much better had I innoculated??

IL Trophy Hunter

Sorry guys I didn' t notice the post at the bottom of the page which answers my questions.

Dan O.

If you were reviving an old plot there may have been active bacteria in the soil. Legumes will grow well in rich soil but they require large amounts of nitrogen. This nitrogen is lost when the plant is removed from the field. The best way to tell if you have the proper nitrogen fixing bacteria present is to dig out a plant. There should be several pea sized nodules in the roots.

Dan O.